Klipsch R-5650-W1 Reviews
4 of 5
MSRP 349.99Description: Sophisticated, yet uncomplicated, the Klipsch R-5650-W in-wall loudspeaker will forever change the way you view or listen to architectural audio. Whether used for home theater or stereo music applications, this high-quality and installer-friendly model challenges the performance of comparable standalone speakers

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Submitted by
manlystanley
a Audio Enthusiast

Date Reviewed: February 16, 2009

Bottom Line:

My opinion of these speakers has gone up in direct proportion to how much work I've done to get them to sound good. I bought two R-5650-W speakers off of Craigslist for $75 each. When I first tried them out, they sounded terrible! No bass, very weak and muddy.

I did a fair amount of research on in-wall speakers and I found that building boxes for the speakers would help the sound. This helped, with the bass, but they still sounded muddy still. However, after the dry wall went up in my basement, I put the speakers in their in-wall boxes, and did two more things: 1.) put caulk around them to ensure that now sound escaped around the edges, and then put insulation inside of the box to dampen reverberation. I was really impressed! While they sound no where as nice as my B&W 684's, these speakers sound at almost as good as my Klipsch RB-5-II's and MUCH better then my Klipsch Synergy B-2s.

So, if you use these speakers, take the time to set them up correctly. Build boxes, put insulation in the boxes, and caulk to ensure that only the intended sound comes out. Also, remember that dry-wall does not provide much sound insulation. So, don't count on that being your reverberation box.